THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

DAVIS 


THE  EMANCIPATION  GROUP, 
PARK  SQUARE,  BOSTON. 


BRONZE    GROUP 


COMMEMORATING 


EMANCIPATION. 


A  GIFT  TO  THE  CITY  OF  BOSTON 


HOIST.     MOSES     KIMBALL 


Ubicattb  §mmhr  6,  1870.  • 


BOSTONIA. 

CONDHA.AD. 


CITY  DOCUMENT  No.  126. 


PRINTED    BY    ORDER    OF    THE    CITY    COUNCIL. 

1879. 


PRESS  OF 
*ROCKWELL 


CHURCHILL* 
BOSTON? 


CITY    OF    BOSTON. 


IN  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN,  December  8,  1879. 
Ordered,  That  the  oration  of  His  Honor  the  Mayor, 
delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the  Statue  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  representing  Emancipation,  together  with  the 
address  by  Alderman  Breck,  the  poem  by  John  G.  Whit- 
tier,  and  such  other  documents  as  may  be  of  interest,  be 
printed  as  a  city  document,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Printing ;  and  that  five  hundred  extra 
copies  be  printed. 

Passed.  Sent  down  for  concurrence.  December  11, 
came  up  concurred.  Approved  by  the  Mayor  December 
12,  1879. 

A  true  copy. 

Attest  : 

S.  F.  McCLEARY, 

City  Clerk. 


PRELIMINARY     PROCEEDINGS. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  June  3,  1879,  the 
following  communication  was  received  from  the  Mayor  :  — 

MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  CITY  HALL, 

BOSTON,  June  3,  1879. 

To  the  Honorable  the  City  Council :  — 

I  herewith  transmit  a  communication  from  Hon.  Moses 
Kimball,  for  such  action  as  may  seem  fit  and  proper, 

FREDERICK  O.  PRINCE, 

Mayor. 

BOSTON,  May  30,   1879. 
His  Honor  F.  0.  Prince,  Mayor  of  Boston:  — 

DEAR  SIR, — Having  engaged  of  Mr.  Thomas  Ball  a 
cast  in  bronze  of  his  colossal  group,  emblematical  of  Emanci 
pation,  the  central  figure  of  which  is  a  representation  of  the 
late  President  Lincoln,  I  have  the  honor  to  present  the  same 
to  the  City  of  Boston,  conditioned  that  I  may  place  it  upon 
the  triangular  lot  at  the  junction  of  Columbus  avenue,  Park 
square,  and  Pleasant  street,  and  that  the  city  will  cause  the 
area  to  be  suitably  enclosed  and  annually  cultivated  with 
flowering  plants  and  shrubs. 

The  group  is  to  arrive  some  time  in  August  next. 
Respectfully  yours,  etc. , 

MOSES  KIMBALL. 


6  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

On  motion  of  Alderman  Breck,  the  communication  was 
referred  to  a  joint  special  committee  and  the  Mayor. 

The  chairman  appointed  Aldermen  Charles  H.  B.  Breck, 
Daniel  D.  Kelly,  and  Solomon  B.  Stebbins,  on  the  com 
mittee  . 

The  Common  Council,  June  5,  concurred  in  the  reference, 
and  added  to  the  committee  Councilmen  Henry  W.  Swift  of 
Ward  9,  Nathan  Sawyer  of  Ward  18,  Paul  H.  Kendricken 
of  Ward  20,  Oscar  B.  Mowry  of  Ward  11,  and  Benjamin  F. 
Anthony  of  Ward  19. 

The  committee  submitted  the  following  report :  — 

IN  BOARD  or  ALDERMEN,  June  16,  1879. 
The  Joint  Special  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
communication  from  the  Honorable  Moses  Kimball,  present 
ing  to  the  city  a  bronze  group  emblematical  of  Emancipation, 
having  considered  the  subject,  respectfully  recommend  the 
passage  of  the  following  preamble,  resolve,  and  orders. 
For  the  Committee, 

CHAELES  H.  B.  BRECK, 

Chairman. 

Whereas,  A  communication  has  been  received  from  the 
Honorable  Moses  Kimball,  in  which  he  tenders  to  the  City 
of  Boston  the  gift  of  a  colossal  group  in  bronze,  emblemati 
cal  of  Emancipation,  upon  conditions  that  it  be  placed  upon 
the  lot  of  land  at  the  junction  of  Columbus  avenue,  Park 
square,  and  Pleasant  street,  and  that  the  city  will  cause  the 
area  to  be  suitably  enclosed  and  annually  cultivated  with 
flowering  plants  and  shrubs;  it  is,  therefore,  hereby 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  City  Council,  in  behalf 
of  the  citizens  of  Boston,  be  conveyed  to  the  Honorable 


PRELIMINARY  PROCEEDINGS.  7 

Moses  Kimball,  for  the  public  spirit  displayed  in  his  costly 
and  substantial  gift  to  the  city,  which  is  hereby  accepted  upon 
the  conditions  attached  to  his  offer. 

Ordered,  That  the  triangular  lot  of  land  situated  at  the 
junction  of  Columbus  avenue,  Park  square,  and  Pleasant 
street  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  assigned  for  the  location 
of  said  group. 

Ordered,  That  the  Committee  on  Common  and  Public 
Grounds  be  requested  to  take  such  action  as  may  be  neces 
sary  to  cause  the  said  lot  to  be  put  in  order  and  enclosed 
with  a  suitable  fence,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 

gift. 

The  preamble,  resolve,  and  orders  were  passed  by  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  and  in  concurrence,  June  26,  by  the 
Common  Council ;  June  28  they  were  approved  by  the 
Mayor. 

August  4  Alderman  Breck  submitted  the  following  to  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  :  — 

The  Committee  on  Common  and  Public  Grounds,  who 
were  requested  to  cause  the  lot  of  land  at  the  junction  of 
Columbus  avenue,  Park  square,  and  Pleasant  street  to  be 
put  in  order,  and  enclosed  with  a  suitable  fence,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  terms  of  the  gift  of  the  Honorable  Moses  Kim- 
ball  of  the  group  emblematical  of  Emancipation,  would 
respectfully  report  as  follows  :  The  committee  have  con 
ferred  with  the  City  Architect,  and  he  has  furnished  a  design 
for  a  suitable  fence  and  curb  to  be  erected  upon  the  afore 
said  lot,  and  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  same,  including 
the  fencing  and  grading,  amounting  to  $4,500.  The  com 
mittee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  cost  of  the  above  can 
be  paid  from  the  income  of  the  Phillips  Street-Fund,  so 
called. 


8  EMANCIPATION    GROUP. 

They  respectfully  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accom 
panying  order. 

For  the  Committee, 

HUGH  O'BRIEN, 

Chairman. 

Ordered,  That  the  Committee  on  Common  and  Public 
Grounds  on  the  part  of  the  Board^of  Aldermen  be  authorized 
to  put  in  suitable  order  the  lot  of  land  at  the  junction  of 
Columbus  avenue,  Park  square,  and  Pleasant  street,  on 
which  is  to  be  placed  the  group  emblematical  of  Emancipa 
tion,  the  gift  to  the  city  of  the  Honorable  Moses  Kimball, 
and  to  erect  a  fence  and  curb  around  the  same ;  the  cost,  not 
exceeding  $4,500,  to  be  paid  from  the  income  of  the  Phillips 
Street-Fund. 

The  order  was  read  twice  and  passed. 

In  the  Common  Council,  September  25,  1879,  Mr.  Swift 
of  Ward  9  offered  an  order :  That  the  Committee  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  on  the  Erection  of  the  Statue  of  Josiah 
Quincy,  and  the  Joint  Special  Committee  in  charge  of  the 
statue  commemorating  Emancipation,  acting  together,  be 
authorized  to  make  suitable  arrangements  for  the  dedication 
of  both  of  said  statues  ;  the  expense  attending  the  same,  not 
exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  to  be  charged  to  the  appro 
priation  for  Incidentals. 

The  order  was  passed,  and  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Sep 
tember  29,  concurred. 

The  committee  having  charge  of  the  Quincy  Statue  were 
His  Honor  the  Mayor,  and  Aldermen  Joseph  A.  Tucker, 
Solomon  B.  Stebbins,  and  Daniel  D.  Kelley. 


DESCRIPTION   OF  THE  MONUMENT. 


This  work  was  conceived  and  executed  by  Mr.  Ball, 
under  the  first  influence  of  the  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
assassination. 

The  original  group  was  in  Italian  marble,  and  differs  in 
some  respects  from  the  bronze  group.  In  ,the  original  the 
kneeling  slave  is  represented  as  perfectly  passive,  receiving 
the  boon  of  freedom  from  the  hand  of  the  great  liberator. 
But  the  artist  justly  changed  this,  to  bring  the  presentation 
nearer  to  the  historical  fact,  by  making  the  emancipated 
slave  an  agent  in  his  own  deliverance.  He  is  accordingly 
represented  as  exerting  his  own  strength,  with  strained 
muscles,  in  breaking  the  chain  which  had  bound  him.  A 
greater  degree  of  dignity  and  vigor,  as  well  as  of  historical 
accuracy,  is  thus  imparted.  The  original  was  also  changed 
by  introducing,  instead  of  an  ideal  slave,  the  figure  of  a 
living  man,  —  the  last  slave  ever  taken  up  in  Missouri  under 
the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  who  was  rescued  from  his  captors 
(who  had  transcended  their  legal  authority)  under  the  orders 
of  the  provost-marshal  of  St.  Louis.  His  name  was  Archer 
Alexander,  and  his  condition  of  .servitude  legally  continued 
until  emancipation  was  proclaimed  and  became  the  law  of 
the  land.  A  photographic  picture  was  sent  to  Mr.  Ball,  who 
has  given  both  the  face  and  manly  bearing  of  the  negro. 
The  ideal  group  is  thus  converted  into  the  literal  truth  of 
history  without  losing  anything  of  its  artistic  conception  or 
effect. 

The  monument  in  Park  square  stands  on  a  triangular  plat 


10  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

of  ground  in  front  of  the   Providence  Railroad  station.     A 

c? 

well-laid  curb  and  sidewalk  of  pressed  brick  surround  the 
plat.  Inside  the  sidewalk  the  foundation  of  the  group  is 
raised  two  and  a  half  feet  and  surrounded  by  heavy  granite 
containing- stones.  Around  this  is  a  bronze  railing.  With 
in  it  is  the  group.  Two  steps,  of  Cape  Ann  granite,  are  at 
the  base,  upon  which  stands  the  heavy  octagonal  die  that 
supports  the  group.  This  is  a  solid  block  of  red  polished 
granite  from  Jonesborough,  Me.,  and  weighs  about  sixteen 
tons.  No  inscription  is  on  this  die. 

The  figure  of  President  Lincoln  is  standing  by  a  monolith, 
upon  which  is  a  book,  and  in  his  hand,  which  is  resting  on 
the  monolith,  is  a  scroll,  representing  the  proclamation. 
The  left  hand  is  extended  over  the  crouching  figure  of  the 
slave,  seeming  to  bid  him  arise  and  be  free. 

On  the  inner  side  of  the  monolith  is  a  raised  shield,  with 
the  stars  and  stripes  ;  at  the  angle  nearest  the  spectator, 
looking  toward  the  front,  is  a  bundle  of  fasces,  with  a. bound 
axe;  on  the  next  face  is  a  medallion  head  of  Washington, 
and  at  the  bottom  the  words,  "Thomas  Ball,  sc.,  1874." 
At  the  base  of  the  bronze  in  front  of  the  statue,  in  heavy 
raised  letters,  is  the  word 

EMANCIPATION. 

On  the  front  of  the  base,  in  heavy  raised  polished  letters, 
are  the  words  :  — 

A  RACE  SET  FREE. 
• 
AND  THE  COUNTRY  AT  PEACE. 

LINCOLN 

RESTS    FKOM    HIS    LABORS. 


DESCRIPTION     OF     THE     MONUMENT. 

On  the  back,  in  raised  unpolished  letters,  is  this  inscrip 
tion  :  — 

GIVEN    TO    THE    CITY    OF    BOSTON 
BY    MOSES    KIMBALL, 

1879. 

At  the  corners  of  the  base  are  four  large  bronze  vases  for 
flowers.  They  are  of  Greek  design,  twenty  inches  high  and 
thirty-one  in  diameter. 

At  each  angle  of  the  triangular  plat  is  to  be  placed  a  gas 
light,  composed  of  a  cluster  of  three  lights,  making  the 
group  perfectly  distinct  during  the  night. 

The  height  of  the  granite  die  is  six  feet  two  inches  ;  thick 
ness,  six  feet  eight  inches  ;  height  of  group  from  top  of  die, 
nine  feet  six  inches  ;  height  of  the  whole  above  the  sidewalk, 
twenty-four  feet  six  inches. 

The  group  was  cast  in  Munich  at  the  royal  foundery. 


THE    PROCLAMATION 


OF 


EMANCIPATION 


BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

A  PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  pur  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two, 
a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  containing  among  other  things  the  following,  to  wit : 

"  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  designated  part  of  a  Stater,  the 
people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforth,  and  forever  free,  and  the 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or 
acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts 
they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January 
aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of 
States,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  therein  respectively  shall 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  the,  fact 
that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in 


14  EMANCIPATION      GROUP. 

good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
by  members  chosen  thereto,  at  elections  wherein  a  majority 
of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  States  shall  have  participated, 
shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be 
deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  State  and  the  people 
thereof  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States." 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Com 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States 
in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first 
day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose 
so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one 
hundred  days  from  the  day  of  the  first  above-mentioned 
order,  designate,  as  the  States  and  parts  of  States 
wherein  the  people  thereof  respectively  are  this  day  in  re 
bellion  against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit : 
Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaque  Mines,  Jeiferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St. 
James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St. 
Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  City  of  New 
Orleans,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South 
Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  except  the  forty- 
eight  counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the 
counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth 
City,  York,  Princess  Ann,  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities 
of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,  and  which  excepted  parts  are, 
for  the  present,  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not 
issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid, 
I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within 
said  designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are  and  hencefor- 


THE     PROCLAMATION     OF     EMANCIPATION.       15 

ward  shall  be  free ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  Military  and  Naval  authori 
ties  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said 
persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be 
free,  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self- 
defence,  and  I  recommend  to  them,  that  in  all  cases,  when 
allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons 
of  suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service 
of  the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and 
other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I  in 
voke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious 
favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first 

day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 

[L.  s.]  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and 

of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of 

America  the  eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

By  the  President  — WILLIAM   H.    SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


THE    DEDICATION. 


PROGRAMME. 


AT     PARK     SQUARE. 

Unveiling  of  the  Group,  by  the  City  Architect,  in  presence  of  the  Committee, 

at  12  o'clock. 


AT     FANEUIL     HALL. 
His  Honor  Mayor  Prince  presiding. 

Music         .........         Brown's  Brigade  Band. 

PRAYER By  the  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks. 

POEM By  John  G.  Whittier, 

Read  by  Master  Andrew  Chamberlain,  of  the  Boston  Latin  School. 
i 

Music. 

Presentation  of  the  Group  to  the  City  of  Boston,  by  Alderman  Charles  H.  B. 
Breck,  Chairman  of  the  Committee. 

ORATION, 
By  His  Honor,  Mayor  Prince. 

BENEDICTION. 
Music. 


THE     DEDICATION     EXERCISES. 


The  exercises  occurred  in  accordance  with  the  preceding 
programme,  in  the  presence  of  a  crowded  audience  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  seated  in  Faneuil  Hall.  The  committee 
originally  intended  to  have  the  dedicatory  exercises  in 
Park  Square,  around  the  group,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather  they  decided  to  have  them  in 
some  public  building ;  and  Faneuil  Hall  was  selected  as  the 
most  appropriate  place. 

Upon  the  platform  were  seated  a  large  number  of  dis 
tinguished  officials  and  others,  who  were  specially  invited 
to  be  present.  Among  these  were  His  Excellency  Governor 
Talbot,  Hon.  A.  W.  Beard,  Collector  of  the  Port,  Hon.  E. 
S.  Tobey,  Postmaster  of  Boston,  Hon.  Geo.  P.  Sanger, 
U.S.  District  Attorney,  Hon.  John  P.  Healy,  City  Solicitor, 
Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  and  other  past  Mayors  of  Boston,  Hon. 
Geo.  Washington  Warren,  Hon.  D.  K.  Hitchcock,  the  mem 
bers  of  the  City  Council,  and  many  representatives  of  the 
clergy  and  the  bar. 

The  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks  offered  the  following 


PRAYER. 

O  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of  all  comfort,  we 
invoke  Thy  blessing  on  the  celebration  which  has 
called  us  here  to-day. 


20  EMANCIPATION     GKOUP. 

We  thank  Thee  for  all  that  this  celebration  means : 
for  a  race  set  free,  for  a  country  at  peace,  and  for 
Lincoln  at  rest  from  his  labors.  Among  the  mem 
ories  of  the  past  we  stand  and  oifer  Thee  our  hum 
ble  gratitude  for  all  the  mercies  of  prosperity  and 
freedom  which  Thou  hast  sent  to  us;  and  since,  in 
the  mysteriousness  of  Thy  government,  these  mer 
cies  could  not  come  to  us  except  through  war  and 
terrible  distress,  we  thank  Thee  even  for  the  fearful 
struggle  which  our  hearts  remember  as  if  it  were 
a  thing  of  yesterday. 

We  praise  Thee  for  all  the  patriotic  and  heroic 
dead.  Thou  didst  incorporate  the  principles  for 
which  our  land  contended  in  noble  men  who  freely 
gave  their  lives  for  freedom  and  their  country. 
For  all  of  them  we  thank  Thee,  and  especially  for 
him  who  stands  preeminent  among  them,  —  the 
man  of  conscience,  and  reverence,  and  trust,  of 
faith  and  hope  and  charity,  of  simplicity  and  truth 
fulness  in  life,  of  faithfulness  to  death.  We  bless 
Thee  that  his  character  stands  forever  to  represent 
the  best  character  of  the  country  that  was  saved 
from  ruin  and  of  the  men  who  saved  her. 

And,  now,  we  thank  Thee  at  last  his  name  and 
life  have  found  a  perpetual  memorial  in  this  city. 
Thou  hast  put  it  into  the  heart  of  Thy  servant  to 
set  up  this  statue  for  a  perpetual  token  of  the 


THE     DEDICATION     EXERCISES.  21 

nobleness  of  self-sacrifice,  and  of  the  gratitude  of 
a  redeemed  and  liberated  people. 

We  solemnly  dedicate  the  statue  which  he  has 
built  to  liberty  and  patriotism,  to  the  love  of  man 
and  to  the  fear  of  Thee.  May  the  men  and 
women  and  children  who  pass  under  its  shadow 
hear  its  voice  telling  them  the  story  of  the  sad, 
brave,  blessed  life  of  Lincoln,  so  that  his  memory 
may  be  an  everlasting  inspiration  to  us  all. 

For  while  we  thank  Thee  for  the  past  we  crave 
Thy  blessing  for  the  years  to  come  ;  while  we  honor 
the  dead,  the  tasks  that  the  living  must  do  are  wait 
ing  at  our  hands.  Be  Thou  the  Guide  and  Master 
of  our  governors.  In  this  land  where  all  are  gover 
nors  be  Thou  the  Guide  and  Master  of  us  all.  Keep 
us  all  true  to  the  duty,  little  or  great,  which  Thou 
hast  given  us,  pure  from  all  corruption,  strong 
against  all  temptation,  full  of  most  humble  humility 
before  Thee,  and  of  a  brave  and  tender  love  for  fel 
low-man,  such  as  there  was  in  him  whose  statue  we 
dedicate  and  whose  memory  we  revere  to-day. 

So  may  peace  and  happiness,  truth  and  justice, 
religion  and  piety,  be  established  among  us  for  all 
generations. 

These  things  and  all  else  that  Thou  seest  that  we 
need,  we  ask  in  all  humility  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 


22'  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 


POEM. 

BY    JOHN    G.    WHITTIER. 

Amidst  th}r  sacred  effigies 

Of  old  renown  give  place, 
O  city,  Freedom-loved  !  to  his 

Whose  hand  unchained  a  race. 

Take  the  worn  frame,  that  rested  not 

Save  in  a  martyr's  grave  — 
The  care-lined  face,  that  none  forgot, 

Bent  to  the  kneeling  slave. 

Let  man  be  free  !  The  mighty  word 
He  spake  was  not  his  own  ; 

An  impulse  from  the  Highest  stirred 
These  chiselled  lips  of  stone. 

The  cloudy  sign,  the  fiery  guide, 

Along  his  pathwa}7  ran, 
And  Nature,  through  his  voice,  denied 

The  ownership  of  man. 

We  rest  in  peace  where  these  sad  eyes 
Saw  peril,  strife,  and  pain  ; 

His  was  the  nation's  sacrifice, 
And  ours  the  priceless  gain. 

O  symbol  of  God's  will  on  earth 

As  it  is  done  above  ! 
Bear  witness  to  the  cost  and  worth 

Of  justice  and  of  love. 

Stand  in  thy  place  and  testify 

To  coming  ages  long, 
That  truth  is  stronger  than  a  lie, 

And  righteousness  than  wrong. 


THE     DEDICATION     EXERCISES.  23 

This  was  written  for  the  occasion  by  Mr.  Whittier,  and 
was  read  by  Master  Andrew  Chamberlain,  a  graduate  of  the 
Boston  Latin  School. 

Alderman  Charles  H.  B.  Breck,  chairman  of  the  commit 
tee,  then  presented  the  completed  work  to  the  Mayor. 


ALDERMAN   BRECK'S    ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Mayor :  —  We  are  here  to-day  to  dedicate  a 
group  of  statuary  donated  to  the.  City  of  Boston  by 
our  distinguished  and  esteemed  fellow-citizen,  the 
Hon.  Moses  Kimball,  whose  liberal  generosity  is 
most  warmly  appreciated,  and  will  be  remembered  by 
not  only  this,  but  by  each  succeeding  generation  of 
Bostonians. 

Much  well-deserved  credit  is  due  to  Mr.  Kimball 
for  the  nice  discriminating  taste  and  excellent  judg 
ment  that  prompted  him  in  the  selection  of  a  gift  so 
beautiful,  so  appropriate,  and  so  suggestive  of  histor 
ical  reminiscences,  as  this  group  of  emblematical  fig 
ures,  representing  the  most  interesting,  the  most  im 
portant,  and  the  most  sublime  event  that  has  ever 
transpired  in  the  history  of  the  world,  resulting  in  the 
freedom  of  more  than  three  millions  of  the  colored 
race,  who  had  been  held  in  the  cruel  bondage  of 
slavery  since  the  early  settlement  of  our  country. 

This  group  will  be  a  lasting  memorial  of  the  issu 
ing  of  that  proclamation  by  Abraham  Lincoln  which 


24  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

finally  brought  about  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery, 
never  again,  we  trust,  to  be  revived  in  these  United 
States.  The  statue  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  expressive  and 
life-like,  will  ever  remind  us  of  the  amiable  dispo 
sition  and  many  noble  virtues  of  that  eminently  good 
and  great  man,  and  will  always  be  dearly  cherished 
by  a  truly  grateful  people,  who  for  long  years  had 
wept  and  prayed  that  the  curse  of  slavery,  with  all  its 
attendant  cruelties  and  horrors,  might  be  done  away 
with.  Through  many  differences  of  opinions,  both 
political  and  social,  and  the  intervention  of  powerful 
family  and  private  interests,  this  could  not  be  accom 
plished  until  President  Lincoln,  when  all  other  meas 
ures  had  failed  to  bring  to  an  end  the  most  disastrous 
and  terrible  civil  war  the  world  had  ever  known, 
on  the  first  of  January,  1863,  issued  his  proclamation 
of  emancipation,  which  hastened  the  close  of  the  war 
and  foreshadowed  the  coming  of  liberty  to  the  down 
trodden  and  oppressed. 

But  it  is  not  for  me,  Mr.  Mayor,  to  enlarge  on  this 
subject.  That  pleasant  duty  devolves  upon  you,  and 
there  is  no  one  more  capable  or  more  able  to  do  jus 
tice  to  the  occasion  than  yourself. 

As  chairman  of  the  joint  special  committee  to 
whom  was  assigned  this  matter,  and  as  the  duly  au 
thorized  representative  of  the  municipal  government, 
I  now  have  the  honor  to  surrender  to  you,  Mr.  Mayor, 


THE     DEDICATION     EXERCISES.  25 

for  the  citizens  of  Boston,  this  elegant  work  of  art. 
It  will  be  a  most  valuable  addition  to  the  many  beau 
tiful  statues  that  already  adorn  our  avenues  and  pub 
lic  grounds,  and  an  honor  to  the  donor. 


The  Mayor  received  the  gift  in  behalf  of  the  city,  and 
pronounced  the  following  oration. 

The  exercises  were  closed  with  a  benediction  by  Rev. 
Phillips  Brooks. 


OR  ATI  O  N, 

BY  HIS  HONOR 

FREDERICK     O.    PRINCE, 

MATOK. 


Gentlemen  of  the  City  Council :  — 

FELLOW-CITIZENS,  —  We  place  to-day  upon  its 
pedestal  this  pleasing  work  of  art,  presented  to  the 
City  of  Boston  by  our  fellow-citizen,  the  Honorable 
MOSES  KIMBALL.  The  Municipal  Council  and  the 
people  are  grateful  to  the  munificent  donor,  and  I 
have  been  requested  to  express  their  acknowledg 
ments,  and  make  such  dedicatory  remarks  as  seem 
appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

Mr.  Kimball  has  attached  a  condition  to  his  gift. 
He  requires  the  city  to  make  provision  for  its  care 
and  protection,  and  place  it  where  the  people  "  most 
do  congregate,"  that  they  may  be  constantly  re 
minded  of  the  great  event  it  commemorates;  for  it 
is  his  desire,  by  this  memorial  bronze,  not  only  to 
adorn  the  city  .and  gratify  our  sense  of  the  beautiful, 
but  to  elevate  and  instruct  the  popular  mind  by  its 


28  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

solemn  lessons  of  justice,  philanthropy,  and  patri 
otism.  Thus,  in  making  the  gift  and  directing  its 
location,  his  liberality  and  wisdom  are  equally  con 
spicuous. 

The  city  has  agreed  to  comply  with  this  condition. 
The  site  selected  is  a  thoroughfare,  and  meets  the 
approbation  of  the  considerate  donor.  May  this  elo 
quent  memorial  endure  as  long  as  things  made  by 
human  hands  are  permitted  to  endure;  as  long  as  the 
human  mind  retains  its  capacity  to  know  that  liberty 
is  the  gift  of  Heaven  to  man,  and  that  resistance  to 
tyranny  is  obedience  to  God. 

The  desire  to  record  important  events,  and  the 
great  actors  therein,  by '  some  artistic  expression,  is 
such  a  natural  disposition,  that  all  nations,  civilized 
and  barbaric,  have  invoked  architecture,  sculpture, 
painting,  and  poetry,  to  commemorate  their  eminent 
sovereigns,  soldiers,  statesmen,  philosophers,  orators, 
poets,  and  those  who  have  rendered  beneficial  service 
to  the  State  and  to  humanity.  Gratitude,  pride,  and 
affection,  are  not  satisfied  to  trust  such  commemo 
ration  to  a  vehicle  so  uncertain  as  tradition.  The 
historic  page  informs  only  the  student  and  the 
lettered;  but  all  can  read  and  understand,  with 
more  or  less  appreciation,  the  language  *of  art.  The 
popular  mind  comprehends  more  readily  an  idea  in 
the  concrete  than  the  abstract,  —  an  idea  expressed 


ORATION.  29 

by  sensuous  forms  than  by  words,  however  eloquent. 
Art  performs  its  highest  office  when  it  perpetuates 
heroic  action.  National  monuments  are  epic  lessons 
to  future  generations.  They  instruct,  admonish,  de 
light,  and  inspire.  That  which  we  dedicate  to-day 
speaks  of  the  most  important  act  in  our  annals,  and 
commemorates  one  of  the  great  eras  of  the  Republic, 
—  the  emancipation  of  four  millions  of  slaves ! 

It  is  fitting  and  appropriate  that  we  should  come 
here  to  Faneuil  Hall  and  have  our  dedicatory  exer 
cises.  The  associations  of  this  venerable  and  his 
toric  place  accord  with  the  solemn  character  of  the 
occasion.  The  walls  which  heard  those  denuncia 
tions  of  tyranny  that  led  to  the  immortal  declaration 

- w  All  men  are  created  free,"  -  should  echo  our 
thanksgiving  that  all  men  throughout  our  broad  do 
main —  of  every  race  and  color  —  are  at  last  free, 
and  witness  the  consecration  of  the  sculpture  which 
commemorates  the  event. 

SLAVERY  NOW  INDEFENSIBLE. 

The  occasion  does  not  require  me  to  enter  at 
length  into  the  causes  which  led  to  the  great  civil 
war.  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  right,  moral  or 
legal,  of  one  man  to  have  property  in  another;  nor 
shall  I  have  much  to  say  upon  the  nature  and  influ 
ence  of  slavery,  or  the  political  or  economic  conse- 


30  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

quences  which  have  come  from  it.  The  opinions  of 
mankind  upon  the  whole  matter  have  been  made  up, 
and  are  not  to  be  changed.  However  much  men 
may  differ  as  to  forms  of  government,  and  the 
administration  of  government,  whatever  divergence 
of  opinion  may  exist  touching  political  measures  and 
political  instrumentalities,  no  one  in  any  part  of  the 
world  enlightened  by  Christian  civilization  will  now 
dare  to  defend  slavery  as  a  system  of  labor.  It  has 
ceased  to  be  ;  but  its  death-struggles  convulsed  the 
country  as  nothing  else  could,  and  provoked  the 
most  dreadful  of.  all  wars,  —  civil  war.  Let  it  be 
forgotten  and  buried  with  the  dead  past;  and  in  its 
grave  let  us  put  all  the  wild  passions  and  bitter  ani 
mosities  it  evoked.  It  was  hostile  to  national  union 
and  domestic  peace  ;  but,  now  that  its  baleful  influ 
ence  is  over,  let  us  hope  that  we  may  be  again  one 
people,  politically  and  socially,  so  that  we  may  be 
the  better  able  to  work  out  our  destiny  and  mission 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  I  propose  to  recall 
to  your  attention  at  this  time  some  of  the  causes 
which  led  to  emancipation. 

AVhen  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence 
was  promulgated  all  the  thirteen  colonies  were  slave- 
holding  States.  At  the  North  it  was  generally  be 
lieved  that  the  proposition  therein  set  forth,  that  all 
men  were  born  free,  applied  alike  to  the  negro  as 


ORATION.  31 

well  as  to  the  white  man.  In  Massachusetts  the 
Supreme  Court,  reflecting  the  sentiments  of  the 
Puritans  and  their  steady  devotion  to  the  right  of 
personal  liberty  in  all  men,  declared  that  not  only  the 
slaves  here  were  emancipated  by  that  instrument, 
but  that  they  had  been  already  made  free,  by  the 
adoption  of  the  State  Constitution  and  Bill  of 
Rights,  previous  to  the  formation  of  the  Federal 
Constitution. 

In  other  Northern  States  similar  judicial  decisions 
were  made,  and  slavery  soon  ceased  to  exist  therein. 
It  was  otherwise  at  the  South.  The  material  pros 
perity  of  that  portion  of  the  country  was  thought  to 
depend  upon  the  maintenance  of  slavery,  for  the  time 
at  least;  and,  influenced  by  their  supposed  interests, 
our  southern  brethren  did  not  consider  the  declara 
tion  as  universal  in  ite  operation,  and  therefore  re 
stricted  its  application  to  white  citizens  alone. 

Whoever  inquires  into  the  opinions  and  sentiments 
of  the  leading  minds  of  the  country  when  the  Fed 
eral  Constitution  was  formed  will  find  that  slavery 
was  regarded  everywhere  as  a  political,  if  the  en 
lightened  sense  of  the  people  had  not  then  begun  to 
consider  it  as  a  moral,  evil.  Thinking  men,  North 
and  South,  believed  its  existence  was  a  source  of 
national  weakness,  and  that  its  influence  on  free 
labor  was  unwholesome  and  depressing.  Its  ultimate 


32  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

extinction  was  therefore  desired  and  expected.  Both 
sections  of  the  country  deprecated  the  continuance 
of  the  African  slave-trade,  from  fear  that  the  institu 
tion  would  be  perpetuated  to  an  indefinite  period;  for 
the  belief  obtained  that  slavery  would  die  out  if  the 
slave-trade  were  abandoned. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  EARLY  SOUTHERN    STATESMEN. 

As  early  as  1772  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  had 
memorialized  the  King  of  Great  Britain  upon  the 
dangers  of  slavery,  and  expressed  the  desire  that  the 
slave-trade  might  be  abolished;  but  the  king  replied, 
"  that,  upon  pain  of  his  highest  displeasure,  the  im 
portation  of  slaves  should  not  be  in  any  respect  ob 
structed."  How  are  we  to  reconcile  this  declaration 
from  the  crown  with  the  decision  of  the  English  court 
in  1772,  in  the  celebrated  Sommersett  case,  that  no 
man  could  make  a  slave  of  another?  Well  may 
honest  Ben  Franklin  indignantly  say,  "Pharisaical 
Britain !  to  pride  thyself  in  setting  free  a  single  slave 
that  happened  to  land  on  thy  coast,  while  thy  laws 
continue  a  traffic  whereby  so  many  thousands  are 
dragged  into  a  slavery  that  is  entailed  upon  their 
posterity." 

As  I  have  said,  it  was  thought  that  slavery  would 
soon  die  out  if  the  importation  of  slaves  should 
cease.  When  it  was  proposed  in  the  Federal  Con- 


ORATION.  33 

vention  by  some  northern  delegates  that  the  slave-* 
trade  should  continue  beyond  the  term  of  twenty 
years,  the  southern  members  objected  that  the  period 
was  too  long.  Mr.  Madison  wras  strongly  of  this 
opinion,  and  so  expressed  himself.  Jefferson  said 
during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  "  The  way,  I 
hope,  is  preparing,  under  the  auspices  of  Heaven,  for 
a  total  emancipation."  At  another  time  he  confessed 
that  "  he  trembled  for  his  country  when  he  remembered 
that  God  was  just."  "Washington  declared,  "there 
was  not  a  man  living  who  wished  more  sincerely  than 
he  to  see  a  plan  adopted  for  the  abolition  of  slavery." 
Luther  Martin  and  William  Pinckney,  the  great  law 
yers  of  Maryland,  both  advocated  emancipation,  — 
the  former  in  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787,  and 
the  latter  in  the  Maryland  House  of  Delegates  in 
1789.  Mr.  Iredell,  of  North  Carolina,  said  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  w  When  the  entire  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  takes  place,  it  will  be  an  event  which 
must  be  pleasing  to  every  generous  mind,  and  to 
every  friend  of  human  nature."  I  might  quote  the 
opinions  of  many  other  southern  statesmen  of  that 
day  to  the  same  effect.  Mr.  Webster  observes  in  his 
great  speech  on  the  Constitution  and  the  Union, 
"  that  the  eminent  men,  the  most  eminent  men,  and 
nearly  all  the  conspicuous  politicians  of  the  South, 
then  held  the  same  sentiments,  —  that  slavery  was  an 


34  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

evil,  a  blight,  a  scourge,  and  a  curse.  There  are  no 
terms  of  reprobation  of  slavery  so  vehement  in  the 
North  at  that  day  as  in  the  South.  The  North  was 
not  so  excited  against  it  as  the  South;  and  the  rea 
son  is,  I  suppose,  that  there  was  much  less  of  it  at 
the  North,  and  the  people  did  not  see,  or  think  they 
saw,  the  evils  so  prominently  as  they  were  seen,  or 
thought  to  be  seen,  at  the  South." 

Reverdy  Johnson,  Senator  from  Maryland,  in  his 
memorable  speech  made  on  the  5th  April,  1864,  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  on  the  constitutional 
amendment  abolishing  slavery,  said,  ''  The  men 
who  fought  through  the  Revolution,  those  who 
survived  its  perils  and  shared  its  glory,  and  who 
were  called  to  the  convention  by  which  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  was  drafted  and  rec 
ommended  to  the  adoption  of  the  American  people, 
almost  without  exception  thought  that  slavery  was 
not  only  an  evil  to  any  people  among  whom  it  might 
exist,  but  that  it  was  an  evil  of  the  highest  character, 
which  it  was  the  duty  of  all  Christian  people,  if  pos 
sible,  to  remove,  because  it  was  a  sin  as  well  as  an 
evil.  I  think  the  history  of  those  times  will  bear  me 
out  in  the  statement,  that  if  the  men  by  whom  the 
Constitution  was  framed,  and  the  people  by  whom  it 
was  adopted,  had  anticipated  the  time  in  which  we 
live,  they  would  have  provided  by  constitutional  enact- 


ORATION.  35 

merit  that  that  evil  and  that  sin  should  at  some 
comparatively  unremote  day  be  removed; 
they  earnestly  desired,  not  only  upon  grounds  of 
political  economy,  not  only  upon  reasons  material  in 
their  character,  but  upon  grounds  of  morality  and 
religion,  that  sooner  or  later  the  institution  should 
terminate."  As  further  evidence  of  the  state  of  pub 
lic  opinion  contemporaneous  with  the  formation  of 
the  Constitution,  I  will  add,  that  abolition  societies 
were  then  formed  in  most  of  the  original  thirteen 
States;  in  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  Delaware,  'New  York,  and  Pennsylvania. 
That  of  the  latter  was  formed  as  early  as  1774,  and 
Dr.  Franklin  was  its  president.  John  Jay,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
was  the  first,  and  Hamilton  was  the  second,  president 
of  the  New  York  society. 

But  the  most  striking  proof  of  the  unanimity  of 
public  sentiment  throughout  the  country,  South  as 
well  as  North,  in  regard  to  the  ultimate  extinction  of 
slavery,  is  to  be  found  in  the  passage  of  the  cele 
brated  ordinance  of  1787,  by  which  slavery  was  for 
ever  excluded  "  from  the  whole  territory  over  which 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  had  jurisdiction." 
And  that  was  all  the  territory  north-west  of  the 
Ohio.  This  ordinance  was  passed  %  the  unanimous 
concurrence  of  the  whole  South.  The  vote  of  every 


36  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

State  in  the  Union  was  given  in  its  favor,  with  the 
exception  of  a  single  individual  vote,  which  was 
given  by  a  northern  man.  "The  ordinance,"  says 
Mr.  Webster,  "prohibiting  slavery  forever  north 
west  of  the  Ohio  has  the  hand  and  seal  of  every 
southern  member  of  Congress." 

PROVISIONS    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

Notwithstanding  these  views  of  the  southern 
people  touching  slavery  as  an  institution,  at  the 
time  the  fathers  were  engaged  in  framing  the  Federal 
Constitution,  they  were  not  prepared  for  immediate 
emancipation.  Objections  were  urged  against  it. 
It  was  thought  that  the  economic  interests  of  the 
South  would  suffer,  for  a  time  at  least,  by  any  such 
sweeping  and  radical  change  in  their  system  of 
labor,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  risk  the  experi 
ment.  Guarantees  for  the  protection  of  slavery  were 
therefore  demanded  as  the  condition  upon  which 
they  would  adopt  the  political  compact  which  was 
to  "form  a  more  perfect  union,"  and  make  us  one 
people* 

There  was  much  embarrassment  in  adjusting  the 
matter  so  as  to  satisfy  all  parties.  An  agreement, 
however,  was  finally  reached  through  mutual  com 
promises,  and  the  Constitution  was  ratified  and 
adopted  by  all  the  States. 


ORATION  37 

Three  important  propositions  were  thus  estab 
lished  :  — 

First.  —  The  recognition  of  slavery  as  it  then 
existed  in  the  States,  with  full  power  in  the  States 
over  slavery  within  their  respective  limits. 

Second.  —  The  prohibition  of  slavery  in  all  the  ter 
ritory  then  owned  by  the  United  States,  through  the 
adoption  of  the  ordinance  of  1787. 

Third.  —  The  grant  to  the  new  government  of 
the  power  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  after  a  limited 
period. 

The  ratification  of  the  Constitution  was  concur 
rence  on  the  part  of  both  North  and  South  in  these 
different  propositions. 

The  new  government  being  thus  established,  the 
United  States  of  America  took  a  new  departure,  and 
entered  the  family  of  nations  as  one  sovereign  power, 
formed  from  many  parts,  and  commenced  a  new 
career  of  national  life. 

It  had  the  blessings  and  prayers  of  all  those  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe  who  love  liberty,  and  who 
feel  that  civilization  can  only  develop  and  advance 
under  its  benign  influence.  The  future  seemed 
surely  w  full  of  joy  and  promise  and  sunshine."  The 
genius  of  the  people,  their  ardent  love  of  liberty, 
their  hardy  virtues,  their  indomitable  courage,  ever 
reliable  for  the  defence  of  their  political  rights,  their 


38  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

form  of  government  so  admirably  adapted  for  the 
development  of  all  that  makes  a  nation  powerful  and 
prosperous,  their  varied  climate,  their  vast  resources, 
their  fortunate  geographical  position,  with  the  wide 
Atlantic  between  them  and  the  old  feudal  world,  and 
the  national  polity  inspired  by  the  genius  of  Wash 
ington,  which  avoided  all  entangling  alliances,  —  all 
promised  centuries  of  happy,  prosperous,  and  glorious 
national  life.  The  Saturnian  age  was  to  return 
again. 

But  there  were  those  whose  judgments  were  not 
wholly  controlled  by  these  high  hopes  and  pleasing 
anticipations.  They  saw,  from  the  beginning,  beneath 
the  surface  of  this  halcyon  sea,  and  not  far  below  it, 
hidden  and  dangerous  rocks  that  lay  in  the  path  of 
the  ship  of  state.  They  felt  that  the  government, 
with  all  its  apparent  exemption  from  the  causes  of 
national  decline  and  decay,  with  all  its  seeming  pos 
session  of  assured  and  immortal  life,  was,  like  the 
divinely  born  Grecian  hero,  vulnerable  in  one  place 
at  least,  —  in  that  feature  of  its  organization  which 
compelled  the  recognition  and  protection  of  slavery. 
They  could  not  see  how  such  potent  antagonisms  as 
Slavery  and  Freedom  could  long  continue  to  exist  side 
by  side;  and  they  felt  that,  sooner  or  later,  either  the 
encroaching  freedom  of  the  North  must  dominate 
the  South,  or  the  encroaching  slavery  of  the  South 


ORATION.  39 

must   dominate   the    ISTorth,   despite    of    covenants, 
compromises,  compacts,  and  constitutions. 

THE     IRREPRESSIBLE     CONFLICT. 

The  event  corresponded  with  their  predictions. 
w  N~o  great  political  or  moral  revolution,"  says  a  dis 
tinguished  essayist,  "has  ever  occurred,  which  has 
not  been  accompanied  by  its  prognostic."  Such  soon 
appeared,  foreshowing  the  great  change  which  was 
to  come  over  the  southern  mind  with  respect,  not 
only  to  the  policy  of  maintaining  slavery  as  a  system 
of  labor,  but  to  the  moral  right  to  do  so.  Cotton, 
which  was  not  considered  a  commercial  product  of 
the  South  at  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  was 
found,  after  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin,  so 
adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  slave  States  as  practi 
cally  to  give  them  a  monopoly  of  its  cultivation.  It 
was  soon  discovered  that  here  was  an  inexhaustible 
mine  of  wealth.  All  that  was  needed  for  its  devel 
opment  was  cheap  labor,  and  it  was  believed  that 
such  could  be  only  found  in  slave  labor.  The  entire 
policy  of  the  South  in  respect  to  the  institution 
immediately  changed,  and  all  their  thoughts  and 
efforts  were  directed  to  its  protection  and  extension. 
For  this  purpose  new  territories  were  acquired  and 
new  States  admitted  into  the  Union.  The  political 
power  of  the  South  was  thus  greatly  augmented,  and 


40  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

the  North,  alarmed  lest  slavery  should  be  national 
ized,  organized  to  prevent  its  further  extension. 

These  two  opposing  forces  soon  generated  an 
"  irrepressible  conflict." 

Both  sides  complained  of  each  other.  Each 
charged  broken  faith  and  violations  of  the  constitu 
tional  compact.  When  time  shall  soften  the  preju 
dices  and  calm  the  passions  engendered  in  the 
unnatural  strife,  so  that  the  conduct  of  both  parties 
can  be  examined  with  judicial  impartiality,  the  his 
torian  will  be  able  to  set  forth  all  the  facts  and  make 
up  the  record.  We  are  too  near  the  events;  we 
share  too  largely,  both  at  the  North  and  the  South, 
the  feelings  and  opinions  which  inaugurated  the 
strife,  to  enable  us  to  make  proper  discrimination. 
The  verdict  must  be  rendered  by  another  generation; 
but  there  is  one  fact  about  which  there  can  be  no 
dispute.  The  South,  alleging  that  slavery  and  their 
interests  were  endangered  by  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  the  Presidency,  and  the  access  to  power 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  claiming  the  right  of 
secession,  made  war  upon  the  flag.  Thereupon,  the 
administration,  in  obedience  to  the  mandates  of  the 
Constitution,  marshalled  its  forces  for  the  mainten 
ance  of  the  Federal  authority  and  the  preservation 
of  the  Union.  Civil  war  was  thus  inaugurated. 

Among  the  questions  involved  in  this  terrible  con- 


ORATION.  41 

troversy,  which  the  student  of  history  may  perhaps 
raise,  will  be,  whether  this  conflict  could  have  been 
avoided  by  any  different  statesmanship,  notwith 
standing  the  intense  feeling  respecting  slavery  which 
divided  the  people  of  the  two  sections,  and  the  hos 
tile  spirit  which  animated  them. 

It  may  be  asked,  if  slavery  be  regarded  as  the  pre- 
disponent,  as  well  as  the  immediate  cause  of  the  war, 
whether  it  would  not  ere  long  have  died  out  under 
the  advancing  civilization  of  the  age,  which  was  fast 
destroying  the  conditions  under  which  it  could  alone 
exist?  Would  not  the  progress  of  moral  ideas,  and 
the  enlightened  opinions  of  mankind,  have  made  it 
impossible  for  any  nation,  especially  the  English- 
speaking  race,  to  uphold  forever  the  hideous 
institution? 

Data  might  perhaps  be  found  for  such  speculation 
in  the  changed  sentiments  of  the  northern  tier  of 
slave  States  during  the  decade  preceding  the  war, 
touching  the  right  to  hold  property  in  man,  and  the 
policy  of  maintaining  this  system  of  labor,  and  in 
the  significant  fact  that  the.  slaves  were  fast  dis 
appearing  from  this  section  of  the  country.  The 
recent  action  of  Russia,  Spain,  Brazil,  and  other 
nations,  might  be  cited  to  show  the  great  changes  in 
public  opinion  in  respect  to  the  institution.  In  Cuba 
all  slaves  over  sixty  years  of  age  have  been  manu- 


42  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

mitted;  and  within  a  few  days  the  Spanish  Minister 
of  Colonies  presented  to  the  Senate  at  Madrid  the 
government  bill,  touching  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
Cuba,  remarking  that  "  it  was  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  nature,  and  could  no  longer  be  maintained  in  the 
civilized  world."  Surely, the  world  moves!  Perhaps 
it  will  be  found,  upon  careful  examination  of  all  the 
facts,  that  slavery  was  rather  the  exciting  than  the 
actual  cause  of  the  strife  between  the  ISTorth  and  the 
South,  and  that  deeper  down  there  were  the  same 
forces  at  work  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  result, 
which  threatened  nullification  and  secession  in  1830, 
and  which  would  have  then  led  to  civil  war  but 
for  the  eloquence  of  Webster,  and  the  firmness  of 
Jackson. 

LINCOLN   NOT    AN   EXTREMIST. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  when  elected  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  not  an  abolitionist  in  the  extreme  sense 
of  the  term.  He  was  not  of  the  higher-law  party. 
He  was  opposed  to  slavery  —  morally  and  politically. 
He  believed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  oper 
ated  equally  upon  all  men,  without  regard  to  color; 
and  while  he  was  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  new  States  and  territories,  he  recognized  fully 
the  binding  force  of  the  compromises  under  which 
the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  the  protection 


ORATION.  43 

which  that  compact  gave  slavery  in  the  States  where 
it  existed.  He  had  no  disposition  or  intention  to 
molest  or  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  institution 
there.  He  repeatedly  defined  his  position  on  this 
question  in  his  speeches  in  the  political  campaigns 
previous  to  his  election,  and  so  clearly  and  unam 
biguously  that  he  could  not  be  misunderstood. 

In  the  celebrated  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas,  when 
they  were  both  candidates  for  the  United  States 
Senate,  Judge  Douglas  asked  him  whether  he  then 
stood,  as  he  stood  in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  uncondi 
tional  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law;  and  he  re 
plied,  "  I  do  not  now  nor  ever  did  stand  in  favor  of 
the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law." 
Judge  Douglas  then  asked  him  if  he  stood  pledged, 
as  in  1854,  against  the  admission  of  any  more  slave 
States  into  the  Union;  and  he  answered,  w  I  do  not 
now  nor  ever  did  stand  pledged  against  the  admis 
sion  of  any  more  slave  States."  He  further  said  that 
he  was  not  pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  nor  to  the  prohibition  of  the 
slave-trade  between  the  States. 

These  declarations  were  not  satisfactory  to  the 
radical  anti-slavery  men;  for  they  showed  most  con 
clusively  that  he  did  not  belong  to  that  political 
church. 

In  his  address  at  Cincinnati,  in  1859,  he  said,  "  I 


44  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

am  not  what  they  call,  as  I  understand  it,  a  black 
Republican,  but  I  think  slavery  wrong,  morally  and 
politically;  "  and,  referring  to  some  Kentuckians  pres 
ent,  observed,  "We  Republicans  mean  to  treat  you, 
as  near  as  we  possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson, 
and  Madison,  treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave  you 
alone,  and  in  no  way  interfere  with  your  institution; 
to  abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  Consti 
tution." 

In  his  remarks  to  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council 
of  Washington,  just  after  his  election  as  President, 
he  assured  them  that  the  people  should  have  all 
their  rights;  "not  grudgingly,  but  fully  and  fairly." 

In  his  first  inaugural,  and  in  his  proclamation,  he 
says,  "Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States,  that  by  the  accession 
of  a  Republican  administration  their  property  and 
their  peace  and  personal  security  are  to  be  en 
dangered.  There  never  has  been  any  reasonable 
cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while 
existed,  and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is 
found  in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches  of  him 
who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one 
of  those  speeches  when  I  declare,  that  'I  have  no 
purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  .where  it  now 


ORATION.  45 

exists.'  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so, 
and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Those  who  nom 
inated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  the  full  knowl 
edge  that  I  had  made  this  and  similar  declarations, 
and  had  never  recanted  them;  and,  more  than  this, 
they  placed  in  the  platform  for  my  acceptance,  and 
as  a  law  to  themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and 
emphatic  resolution  which  I  now  read:  — 

r  ?  Resolved ,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the 
rights  of  the  States,  and  especially  of  the  rights  of 
each  State,  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  in 
stitutions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclu 
sively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which 
the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric 
depends;  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by 
armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  territory,  no 
matter  under  what  pretext,  as  among  the  gravest 
crimes.' 

"I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments,  and  in  doing  so 
I  only  press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  con 
clusive  evidence  of  which  the  case  is  susceptible, 
that  the  property,  peace,  and  security,  of  no  section 
are  to  be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  now  incom 
ing  administration." 

THE   POSITION   OF    THE   REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

Whatever  the   South   may  have  feared  from  the 


46  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

extreme  men  around  Mr.  Lincoln,  they  had,  or  could 
have  had,  no  apprehension  that  he  would  not  stand 
squarely  and  firmly  by  his  opinions  and  promises  on 
this  great  question;  for  if  there  was  .any  trait  of 
character,  any  one  virtue,  for  which  he  was  espe 
cially  noted,  it  was  his  honesty  and  fidelity  to  truth. 
These  qualities  were  conspicuous  through  all  his 
checkered  and  unblemished  life,  from  the  time  when, 
poor  and  struggling  for  existence,  he  followed  the 
hard  fortunes  of  the  flat-boatman  on  the  Mississippi; 
through  all  his  honorable  career  as  a  lawyer  and  a 
legislator,  until  elected  to  the  highest  office  in  the 
gift  of  the  people.  When  he  too*k  the  oath  upon  his 
inauguration  to  "  preserve,  protect,  and  defend,  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  he  took  it,  as  he 
says,  "  with  no  mental  reservations,  and  with  no 
purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by  any 
hypercritical  rules."  Can  any  one  doubt  that  he 
intended  from  the  beginning  to  keep  this  solemn 
oath,  and  to  administer  the  government  honestly, 
fairly,  and  according  to  the  requirements  of  the 
Constitution? 

It  is  thus  evident  that  there  was  no  design  on  the 
part  of  the  Republican  party  to  interfere,  upon  their 
accession  to  power,  with  slavery  in  the  States  where 
it  then  existed.  Furthermore,  if  they  had  such  de 
sign  they  could  not  have  executed  it.  Gov.  Perry, 


O  K  A  T I O  N .  47 

of  South  Carolina,  well  said,  ?  The  rights  of  the 
South  were  in  no  possible  danger,  even  had  Mr. 
Lincoln  been  disposed  to  interfere  with  them.  There 
was  at  that  time  a  majority  of  twenty-seven  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  politically  opposed  to  him. 
There  was  a  majority  in  the  Senate  of  six  opposed 
to  him.  A  majority  of  the  Supreme  Court  were 
opposed  to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 
A  large  majority  of  the  people  had  supported  others 
for  the  Presidency.  He  was  powerless  to  injure  the 
slave  States."  Some  of  the  more  radical  members  of 
the  party  might  have  proposed,  in  their  hostility  to 
the  institution,  violent  and  unconstitutional  measures; 
but  they  were  inconsiderable  in  numbers  and  with 
out  controlling  influence. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  government  to  defend  itself 
against  all  assaults  of  its  enemies,  foreign  and 
domestic, —  to  maintain  the  Union  of  the  States, — 
and  it  was  bound  to  use  all  powers  and  means  within 
its  control  necessary  for  the  purpose.  When,  there 
fore,  the  war  came,  the  executive  summoned  the  mil 
itary  force  of  the  country  for  its  protection  ;  but  it 
was  not  until  the  contest  had  continued  for  nearly 
two  years;  until  a  vast  amount  of  treasure  and  blood 
had  been  expended,  and  it  had  been  proved  that  the 
armies  of  the  republic  were  inadequate  for  the  sup 
pression  of  this  gigantic  revolt,  that  the  President, 


48  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

as  a  last  resource,  adopted  the  expedient  of  emanci 
pation. 

All  his  conduct  shows  that,  in  taking  this  impor 
tant  step,  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  move  hastily,  like  a 
partisan,  who  was  impatiently  seeking  for  the  oppor 
tunity  to  abolish  slavery;  but  slowly,  cautiously,  and 
reluctantly,  as  a  statesman  should,  who  appreciated 
the  solemn  magnitude  of  the  measure,  and  saw  the 
momentous  consequences  which  would  follow  it.  He 
reflected  long  and  seriously  before  acting.  He  con 
scientiously  considered  the  obligations  of  his  official 
oath  and  the  demands  of  duty. 

THE    POSTPONEMENT    OF   EMANCIPATION. 

No  political,  party,  or  other  improper  considera 
tions  were  permitted  to  influence  his  judgment  or 
control  his  action.  So  careful  was  he  not  to  err  in 
the  matter,  it  was  thought  by  many,  not  extreme  in 
their  views,  that  the  cause  of  the  Union  suffered  by 
his  delay.  But  in  so  grave  an  exigency  he  preferred 
to  err  on  what  he  deemed  the  safest  side.  When 
therefore  General  Fremont  issued  his  order,  in  Au 
gust,  1861,  declaring  the  slaves  of  the  Missouri 
insurgents  to  be  thereafter  free,  Lincoln,  regarding 
the  measure  premature  and  impolitic,  although  he 
believed  it  was  competent  to  adopt  it  under  the 
war  powers  of  the  Constitution,  did  not  then  think 


ORATION.  49 

it    an   "indispensable    necessity,"    and    directed   its 
modification. 

When,  a  little  later,  General  Cameron,  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  suggested  the  arming  of  the  negroes, 
he  did  not  think  this  an  "indispensable  necessity," 
and  objected  to  the  proposal. 

When,  still  later,  General  Hunter  made  his  procla 
mation  and  order  declaring  all  the  slaves  in  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida  free  forever,  he  an 
nulled  it,  "  not  thinking  the  indispensable  necessity 
had  come."  On  the  question  of  emancipating  and 
arming  negroes,  he  said,  "  The  Union  must  be  pre 
served,  and  all  indispensable  means  must  be  used; 
but  I  deprecate  haste  in  the  use  of  extreme  measures, 
which  might  reach  the  loyal  as  well  as  the  disloyal." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  public  sentiment 
was  becoming  daily  more  and  more  intense  in  the 
demand  for  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipa 
tion  as  the  shortest  and  surest  way  of  bringing  the 
war  to  an  end.  It  was  urged  that  the  crushing  of 
slavery  would  be  the  crushing  of  the  rebellion.  It 
was  claimed  that  emancipation  would  bring  into  the 
Union  ranks  hundreds  of  thousands  of  colored  men. 
The  more  violent  of  the  Republican  newspapers  de 
nounced  Mr.  Lincoln  for  remissness  and  inaction. 
He  replied  in  his  defence,  "  My  paramount  object  is 
to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either  to  save  or  destroy 


50  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union,  without  freeing 
any  slave,  I  would  do  it ;  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing 
all  the  slaves  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by 
freeing  some,  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  do 
it." 

Notwithstanding  all  the  pressure  upon  him  for  the 
issue  of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  he  still 
hastens  slowly.  He  waits  until  he  could  put  the 
slave  party  clearly  in  the  wrong;  until  the  South 
had  passed  the  Rubicon;  until  it  was  evident  that 
the  insurgents  would  never  abandon  the  contest;  un 
til  the  war  had  been  so  waged  as  to  leave  no  alterna 
tive  but  to  yield  the  cause,  and  allow  the  Union  to 
be  broken  up  and  destroyed. 

I  recall  all  this  to  your  attention  to  show  how 
carefully  and  cautiously  he  reached  his  determina 
tion  to  adopt  the  measure  of  emancipation.  When 
he  finally  resolved  upon  it  he  gave  ample  notice  of 
his  intention,  that  those  who  would  be  affected  by  its 
operation  might  save  themselves,  if  they  wished  to 
do  so.  After  months  went  by,  with  no  signs  of  sur 
render,  and  no  indication^  that  the  enemies  of  the 
Union  and  the  republic  would  return  to  their  alle 
giance,  declaring  that  "  he  sincerely  believed  it  to  be 
an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon 
military  necessity,  upon  which  he  invoked  the  con 
siderate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor 


ORATION.  51 

of  Almighty  God,"  he  issued   the   Proclamation    of 
Emancipation. 

The  bolt  was  launched  which  was  certain  to  end 
the  w^ar,  destroy  secession,  vindicate  the  national  au 
thority,  and  save  the  Union. 

EMANCIPATION   A  WAR   MEASURE. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  consider  the  right  of  govern 
ment  to  resort  to  emancipation  as  a  war  measure.  I 
will  only  briefly  say,  that  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  it  was  fitting  and  proper; 
that  it  was,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  justified  as  a  mili 
tary  necessity.  It  was  approved  by  Congress  by  a 
resolution  passed  by  a  large  majority,  and  the  coun 
try  has  endorsed  it. 

War  existed  between  the  United  States  and  the 
seceding  States ;  and  the  Supreme,  Court  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  held,  in  1863,  in  the  case  of  the  Hiawatha, 
"that  where  the  course  of  justice  is  interrupted  by 
revolt,  rebellion,  or  insurrection,  so  that  the  courts  of 
justice  cannot  be  kept  open,  civil  war  exists,  and 
hostilities  may  be  prosecuted  on  the  same  footing  as 
if  those  opposing  the  government  were  foreign  ene 
mies.  All  persons  residing  in  the  insurgent  States 
are  liable  to  be  treated  as  enemies.  .  .  .  They 
are  none  the  less  enemies  because  they  are  traitors." 

By  the  laws  of  war,  the  property  of  both  enemies 


52  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

and  friends  may  be  taken  when  needed.  If  slaves 
were  property,  then  the  government  could  by  these 
laws  take  them  to  help  subdue  the  enemy;  their  lib 
eration  would  obviously  weaken  the  latter  and 
strengthen  the  former.  The  Constitution  gives  the 
Executive  belligerent  powers  flagrante  hello,  and  he 
is  the  sole  judge  whether  the  exigency  exists  for  the 
exercise  of  these  powers.  The  only  limit  to  the  war 
powers  is  to  be  found  in  the  law  of  nations;  and  by 
the  law  of  nations,  and  the  practice  of  belligerents 
in  modern  times,  the  slaves  of  an  enemy  may  be  lib 
erated  in  time  of  war  by  military  power.  This 
power  was  exercised  by  England  in  the  revolution 
ary  war,  and  in  the  State  of  Virginia  alone  more 
than  thirty  thousand  slaves  were  thus  liberated. 
Jefferson  himself  conceded  that  England  had  this 
right.  England  again  exercised  this  right  in  the 
war  of  1812.  France  did  the  same  in  her  wars  with 
England,  and  some  of  the  South  American  republics 
have  also  exercised  this  right,  and  it  has  been  recog 
nized  and  admitted  by  all  publicists.  I  do  not  under 
stand  that  it  is  denied  at  the  South. 

It  may  be  asked,  whether  it  was  expedient  and 
politic  to  issue  the  proclamation.  If  we  recur  to 
the  condition  of  things  at  the  time,  the  question  will 
be  readily  answered.  The  government  had  been 
trying  for  nearly  two  years  to  subdue  the  rebellion. 


ORATION.  53 

Immense  sums  of  money  had  been  expended.  Many 
hundred  thousand  soldiers  had  been  called  out. 
Many  fierce  and  sanguinary  battles  had  been  fought. 
The  war  had  assumed  gigantic  proportions,  and 
extended  over  a  vast  area  of  territory.  Eleven 
States  were  in  revolt.  All  their  resources  of  men 
and  money  were  levied.  The  w  cradle  and  the 
grave "  had  been  robbed  for  recruits.  The  most 
inflexible  determination  had  been  everywhere  shown 
to  surrender  only  when  conquered.  Foreign  inter 
vention  was  threatened.  It  may  be  doubted  whether 
the  Union  could  be  saved  by  the  means  within  the 
control  of  the  government  unless  the  enemy  were 
deprived  of  the  aid  of  the  slaves,  —  for  the  latter 
were  a  great  source  of  power;  they  raised  the  sup 
plies  for  carrying  on  hostilities;  they  constructed 
military  works,  and  served  in  the  armies.  Emanci 
pation  would  transfer  these  allies  to  the  national  flag, 
and  strengthen  the  national  ranks  by  vast  numbers 
of  willing  recruits.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  then, 
that  it  was  our  policy,  as  it  was  our  right,  to  pro 
claim  freedom  to  the  negroes. 

EFFECT    OF    THE   PROCLAMATION. 

Once  free  they  could  not  be  again  enslaved,  for  the 
right  of  the  slave  to  his  freedom  after  being  liberated 
is  not  to  be  disputed;  and,  furthermore,  it  would 


54  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

be  most  atrocious  as  well  as  unjust,  that  he  who  had 
once  worn  the  uniform  of  a  United  States  soldier, 
and  carried  the  flag  through  the  carnage  of  battle, 
should  be  again  enslaved  upon  the  recurrence  of  the 
peace  which  he  had  helped  to  conquer.  It  may  be 
here  observed  that  the  Confederate  Congress,  in  the 
last  hours  of  the  war,  passed  a  bill  authorizing  the 
employment  of  slaves  as  soldiers,  although  the  meas 
ure  was  adopted  too  late  to  help  their  cause.  But  in 
the  debate  upon  the  bill  it  was  conceded  that  "  to 
arm  the  negroes  is  to  give  them  freedom.  When 
they  come  out  scarred  from  the  conflict  they  must  be 
free." 

Furthermore,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  gov 
ernment  is  at  all  times  entitled  to  the  aid  of  all  those 
it  protects  in  its  hour  of  danger.  The  black  man  is 
as  much  bound  as  the  white  man  to  perform  military 
duty.  There  is  no  discrimination.  When  the  com 
mon  safety  is  imperilled,  all  alike  must  respond  to 
the  call  of  patriotism. 

The  sequel  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  emancipa 
tion.  As  soon  as  the  proclamation  was  issued,  the 
power  of  the  rebellion  was  broken.  The  capacity 
of  the  insurgents  to  continue  the  contest  weakened, 
and  was  soon  destroyed.  Both  parties  soon  saw  that 
further  resistance  to  the  national  arms  could  not 
long  be  maintained.  Emancipation,  by  thus  short- 


ORATION.  55 

ening  the  war,  saved  thousands  of  lives,  and  a  vast 
increase  of  national  debt. 

RIGHT    OF    SECESSION. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Southerners 
always  denied  that  they  were  revolutionists.  They 
justified,  or  attempted  to  justify,  their  action  in 
taking  arms  against  the  government,  by  the  right 
of  secession,  which,  through  their  interpretation 
of  the  Federal  Constitution,  belonged  to  all  the 
States. 

It  was  claimed  that,  after  the  passage  of  the  seces 
sion  ordinances  by  the  slave  States,  the  latter  re 
sumed  all  the  sovereignty  which  they  possessed  be 
fore  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  that  when 
they  united  and  established  the  Southern  Confeder 
acy,  it  became  de  jure — as  it  was  during  the  years 
of  the  war  de  facto  —  an  independent  autonomy  • 
that  upon  this  theory  the  contest  was  not  a  rebellion, 
but  a  war  between  two  nationalities.  Beyond  ques 
tion  a  large  part  of  the  southern  people  honestly  be 
lieved  in  this  alleged  right  -of  secession.  Their 
political  leaders,  of  the  school  of  Haynes  and  Cal- 
houn,  had  long  maintained  the  construction  of  the 
Constitution  which  gave  this  right,  and  the  public 
mind  in  that  section  of  the  country  had  become  so 
thoroughly  imbued  and  saturated  with  this  heresy 


56  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

that  the  people  were  united  and  fixed  in  their  deter 
mination  to  maintain  this  right. 

We  of  the  North,  under  the  teachings  of  our 
statesmen,  denied  that  a  State,  for  any  cause,  could 
secede.  We  are  especially  indebted  to  Daniel  Web 
ster  for  our  political  instruction  and  guidance  here. 
Previous  to  his  masterly  exposition  of  the  nature 
and  genius  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  character 
of  that  instrument,  and  its  effects  upon  the  States, 
and  the  relation  of  the  States  to  each  other  and  to 
the  central  government,  and  the  respective  rights  and 
obligations  of  each,  were  imperfectly  understood. 
He  demonstrated  that  this  political  compact  estab 
lished  something  more  than  a  confederation.  He 
proved,  to  the  people  of  the  North  at  least,  that  it 
created  a  national  unity,  and  established  a  national 
government,  not  withstanding  it  reserved  to  the  States 
certain  powers  and  remains  of  sovereignty  for  the 
control  of  their  local  and  domestic  affairs;  and  that 
the  union  thus  created  could  not  be  dissolved  except 
by  the  consent  of  all  the  States  or  by  revolution. 

This  exposition  was  generally  accepted  by  the 
country  north  of  the  slave  line,  and  fostered,  if  it  did 
not  create,  that  patriotic  and  national  sentiment  to 
which  appeal  was  so  successfully  made  when  the  flag 
was  assailed  and  the  war  inaugurated.  The  whole 
North  being  a  unit  against  secession,  all  its  patri- 


ORATION.  57 

otism  was  aroused,  and  all  its  vast  resources  of  men, 
money,  and  military  material  contributed  to  the  cause 
without  stint.  Every  draft  upon  its  loyalty  for  the 
defence  of  the  government  and  the  maintenance  of 
the  Union  was  recognized. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  there  would  have  been 
this  unanimity  of  sentiment  in  respect  to  the  rights 
of  the  general  government,  or  the  same  inflexible  de 
termination  to  maintain  them,  if  the  war  of  secession 
had  come  upon  our  country  at  an  earlier  period  of 
our  history,  and  before  the  theory  of  nationality  had 
fully  formed  and  crystallized. 

When  we  consider  how  fixed  the  two  sections 
were,  in  their  convictions  touching  their  constitutional 
rights,  and  remember  the  intensity  of  the  popular 
feeling  therein;  the  fierce  invective  of  the  press;  the 
acrimony  of  Congressional  debate,  and  all  the  cir 
cumstances  which  surrounded  and  controlled  the 
question,  —  it  is  evident  that  its  peaceful  solution 
could  hardly  be  expected;  that  compromise  was 
almost  impossible;  that  the  Gordian  knot  could  not 
be  untied,  and  was  to  be  cut  by  the  sword. 

THE   DECISION   Or    THE   WAR. 

The  war  has  decided  that  there  shall  be  no  ques 
tion  or  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  loyalty  due 
from  the  States  and  from  the  people  to  the  national 


58  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

government.  It  has  decided  that  there  is  no  right 
of  secession.  It  has  decided  that  slavery,  which 
prompted  the  assertion  of  this  right,  shall  cease  to 
exist. 

These  decisions  will  never  be  disturbed.  They  are 
final  and  irreversible.  The  dogma  of  secession  was 
the  logical  sequence  of  the  doctrine  of  strict  con 
struction.  The  advocates  of  the  latter  maintained 
the  absurd  proposition,  that  the  framers  of  a  consti 
tution  for  the  formation  w  of  a  more  perfect  union  " 
contrived  such  a  monstrosity  as  a  government  with 
out  the  powers  necessary  for  its  existence ;  that  they 
called  into  being  an  entity  incapable  of  maintaining 
itself  against  the  revolt  of  its  own  parts,  —  a  creation 
which  might  be  destroyed,  like  the  children  of  Sat 
urn,  as  soon  as  born ;  a  something  that  might  at  once 
become  a  nothing. 

If  this  be  so,  then  all  the  time  and  labor  of  the 
constitutional  convention  were  expended  in  vain,  for 
its  boasted  work  is  of  little  value.  "What  folly  to 
adopt  a  national  flag,  and  demand  for  the  United 
States  a  place  among  the  sovereignties  of  the  world, 
if  any  State,  or  any  number  of  States,  could  at 
pleasure  break  up  the  government  and  destroy  its 
unity  and  individuality! 

But  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  were  wise  men, 
and  understood  government  as  a  science.  By  this 


OEATION.  59 

instrument  they  gave  the  federation  all  powers  of  a 
national  character  for  the  enforcement  of  national 
authority,  and  thus  provided  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union.  "Perpetuity,"  says  Mr.  Lincoln,  "is 
implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the  fundamental  law 
of  all  national  governments."- 

But  while  the  rights  of  the  national  government 
have  been  adjusted,  and  the  powers  which  properly 
belong  to  it  recognized,  through  the  arbitrament  of 
war,  a  grave  question  looms  in  the  distance,  whether, 
in  the  flush  of  victory,  it  is  not  disposed  to  claim 
more  than  belongs  to  it;  whether  it  may  not  encroach 
upon  those  rights  which  under  the  Constitution  are 
reserved  to  the  States.  The  preponderance  of  the 
centripetal  may  work  as  much  of  mischief  in  our 
political  system  as  that  of  the  centrifugal  forces. 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  it  was 
provided  by  amendment,  "that  the  powers  not  dele 
gated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  .the 
States  respectively  or  to  the  people."  Our  political 
system,  as  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
has  well  said,  "  is  an  indestructible  union  composed 
of  indestructible  States."  In  the  distribution  of 
national  and  State  powers  we  should  watch  with 
equal  vigilance,  that  the  rights  and  powers  of  the 
federal  government  are  not  disturbed  by  the  States, 


60  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

and  that  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  States  are  not 
disturbed  by  the  government.  A  just  equilibrium 
between  both  is  essential  for  the  protection  of  both. 
Power  ever  seeks  to  augment  itself.  The  path  of 
history  is  strewn  with  the  wreck  of  governments 
once  free,  which  have  been  destroyed  by  executive 
usurpation.  To  establish  the  just  authority  of  the 
national  government  we  have  expended  thousands  of 
millions  of  treasure  and  fought  hundreds  of  battles. 
Let  us  take  care  that  in  avoiding  one  extreme  we 
do  not  drift  into  another,  which  may  require  like 
sacrifices  to  correct.  Our  national  safety  lies  in  the 
middle  path.  If  the  general  government  is  per 
mitted  to  usurp  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States 
in  matters  of  local  and  domestic  concern,  where  the 
latter  have  exclusive  cognizance,  each  act  of  usur 
pation  will  become  the  precedent  for  another.  En 
croachment  will  follow  encroachment,  until  the 
harmony  of  the  system  is  destroyed,  and  the  gov 
ernment  perverted  from  a  union  of  coordinate  and 
coequal  parts,  each  recognizing  its  loyal  obligations 
to  the  Union,  and  the  Union  in  turn  protecting  the 
rights  of  each,  into  a  centralized  and  consolidated 
authority,  which  will  ultimately  assert  imperial  sway, 
to  the  destruction  of  constitutional  government,  and 
the  overthrow  of  free  institutions.  An  "indestruc 
tible  union  of  indestructible  States  "  will  give  peace, 


ORATION.  61 

prosperity,  and  glory.  The  States,  free  and  inde 
pendent  in  their  own  spheres,  and  in  the  enjoyment 
of  their  just  rights,  will  revolve  in  their  appropriate 
orbits  around  the  common  centre  of  the  national 
government,  whose  attracting  and  repelling  forces, 
so  adjusted  as  to  maintain  their  proper  influences 
over  each  portion  of  the  system,  will  keep  the  whole 
in  subordinate  and  harmonious  relations. 


EMANCIPATION   MARKS   A   NATIONAL    ERA. 

The  abolition  of  slavery  may  be  said  to  make  one 
of  our  national  eras.  The  establishment  of  American 
Independence  relieved  us  from  the  dwarfing  influ 
ence  of  colonial  dependence  and  the  oppressions  of 
imperial  power.  The  emancipation  of  four  'millions 
of  slaves  delivered  us  from  a  dangerous  disease, 
which  threatened  the  national  life.  None  will  deny 
the  baleful  influence  of  slavery.  It  was  an  incubus 
upon  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  It  retarded  the 
development  of  its  resources.  It  depressed  values. 
It  degraded  labor,  and  affected  injuriously  every 
economic  interest.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
industries  of  the  South  were  largely  stimulated  by 
this  system  of  labor;  but  I  think  it  can  be  shown  that 
such  prosperity  as  the  slave  States  enjoyed  was  not 
attained  by,  but  in  spite  of,  slavery. 


62  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

RESULT    OF   EMANCIPATION. 

Now  that  this  cause  of  evil  has  been  removed  we 
may  hope  that  no  great  impediment  to  our  advance 
in  all  the  things  which  make  a  nation  great  and  pros 
perous  will  be  found.  There  may  be  sectional  rival 
ries  and  differences  of  opinion  touching  many  mat 
ters  of  national  concern.  The  people  of  different 
States  may  not  agree  as  to  the  policy  which  should 
govern  in  respect  to  fiscal  measures,  tariffs,  the  dis 
position  of  public  lands,  the  construction  of  public 
works,  the  acquisition  of  new  territory,  the  mainten 
ance  of  armies  and  navies,  and  other  questions  of 
national  polity;  but  these  will  be  powerless  to  en 
danger  the  national  existence;  they  will  not  be  rocks 
and  shoals  to  endanger  the  course  of  the  ship  of  state, 
but  merely  storms  through  which  statesmanship  will 
safely  guide  and  carry  it.  We  may  now  hope,  if  we 
act  wisely,  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  for  as 
many  centuries  as  the  institutions  of  human  contri 
vance  can  be  expected  to  endure.  The  territory  we 
occupy  has  been  so  shaped  by  Providence,  its  config 
uration  is  so  peculiar,  its  mountain  ranges  and  river 
valleys  so  formed,  as  to  afford  no  national  boundaries, 
and  compel  the  Union  as  a  necessity.  We  cannot  di 
vide  into  separate  sovereignties.  This  natural  adhe 
sion  is  strengthened  by  the  bond  to  be  found  in  the 


ORATION.  63 

influence  of  the  Puritan  spirit  which  pervades  the 
country.  Two-thirds  of  our  people  trace  their  lineage 
to  the  race  which  landed  from  the  Mayflower.  From 
the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  and  between  the  two  oceans, 
the  public  mind  and  heart  are  imbued  with  the  great 
qualities  of  these  heroic  men,  —  their  love  of  liberty, 
their  respect  for  law,  their  capacity  for  labor,  their 
dauntless  courage,  their  self-reliance,  and  their  in 
dividuality. 

Puritanism  absorbs  and  proselytes.  Its  character 
istics  have  been  forced  upon  the  fifty  millions  who 
now  occupy  our  continental  domain.  We  may 
therefore  anticipate  a  brilliant  future.  The  recupera 
tive  powers  of  the  country  are  everywhere  active. 
The  wounds  of  war  are  healing.  Our  vast  resources 
are  developing.  A  million  of  soldiers  have  returned 
to  the  ranks  of  civil  life,  and  become  producers.  The 
manufacturer,  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  all  the 
workers  in  the  various  fields  of  labor,  are  promoting 
the  national  industries.  The  vast  debt  incurred  in 
defence  of  the  Union  has  been  largely  lessened.  Our 
enormous  exports  are  bringing  daily  and  hourly  to 
our  shores  the  wealth  of  transatlantic  countries. 
We  have  only  to  be  true  to  ourselves,  act  justly,  and 
cultivate  peace,  to  become  the  leading  nation  of  the 
world  in  all  that  makes  a  nation  great  and  pros 
perous. 


64  EMANCIPATION    GROUP. 

But,  while  we  indulge  these  pleasing  anticipations 
and  picture  to  ourselves  the  brilliant  promises  of  the 
political  future,  let  us  not  forget  the  claims  of  the 
four  millions  of  slaves  liberated  by  the  emancipation, 
symbolized  by  the  bronze  we  dedicate  to-day.  Let 
us  not  forget  that  they  are  now  endowed  with  the 
same  "  inalienable  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness,"  the  same  right  to  enjoy  in  "  safety 
and  tranquillity  the  .blessings  of  life,"  which  the 
white  man  enjoys.  Under  the  amendments  of  the 
Constitution  they  are  American  citizens,  subject  to 
the  obligations  of  citizenship  and  entitled  to  its 
privileges. 

Since  their  manumission  they  have  shown  them 
selves  generally  disposed  to  be  orderly  and  well 
behaved.  Their  peculiar  physical  organization  re 
quires  them  to  live  in  the  southern  climate.  They 
must  be,  for  the  most  part,  agriculturists.  Their 
labor  is  necessary  for  the  prosperity  of  the  South. 
Without  it  the  rich  lands  of  that  section  will  depre 
ciate  in  value,  for  the  white  laborers  cannot  well  fill 
their  places.  That  they  are  industrious  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  the  largest  crop  of  southern  staples 
ever  raised  was  gathered  the  present  year.  Policy, 
then,  as  well  as  justice,  demands  the  good  treatment 
of  the  freedmen,  the  recognition  of  their  rights,  and 
the  protection  of  their  interests. 


ORATION.  65 

But  it  is  not  merely  their  material  welfare  which 
should  concern  the  people  of  this  country.  In  order 
to  make  them  good  citizens  and  fit  them  for  the  dis 
charge  of  the  duties  of  citizenship,  and  especially  to 
fit  them  for  the  judicious  exercise  of  the  right  of  suf 
frage,  which  has  'been  recently  extended  to  them 
through  the  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  they 
should  be  educated.  ~Not  only  their  own  interests 
demand  this,  but  the  national  safety  calls  for  it  as  a 
necessity. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that  the  moral  and  intel 
lectual  education  of  the  people  can  alone  uphold 
republican  institutions.  Whatever,  then,  is  done  for 
the  elevation  of  the  white  should  also  be  done  for 
that  of  the  colored  men.  They  have  been  called  the 
:c  wards  of  the  nation."  Let  the  nation  treat  them 
with  a  guardian's  care,  and  see  to  it  that  they  are 
trained  and  educated  like  other  human  beings,  and 
taught  to  be  honest,  truthful,  virtuous,  and  God 
fearing. 

The  South,  because  of  the  poverty  resulting  from 
war,  cannot,  at  this  time,  do  all  that  is  necessary  in 
this  direction;  but  the  reports  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Peabody  Education  Fund  show  that  it  realizes  its  ob 
ligations  in  the  premises,  and  has  made  commendable 
progress  in  the  work. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  general  government  will 


66  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

soon  see  that  it  is  its  duty,  as  well  as  its  interest,  to 
aid  our  southern  brethren  in  their  efforts  to  dis 
charge  the  solemn  responsibilities  imposed  upon 
them  by  emancipation. 

PERSONAL  CHARACTER  OF  LINCOLN. 

Allow  me  a  few  words  touching  the  personal  char 
acter  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Those  who  have  acted  impor 
tant  parts  in  the  drama  of  public  affairs  can  rarely  be 
justly  understood  or  appreciated  by  their  contempo 
raries.  The  latter  are  too  near  the  scene  of  events  to 
see  them  in  their  just  proportions  and  relations;  too 
greatly  affected  by  the  passions  engendered  in  the 
conflict  of  opinions  to  perceive  the  facts  as  they  exist ; 
too  often  misled  by  the  prejudices  of  party  spirit  to 
judge  motives  and  measures  with  the  candor  which 
truth  demands,  and  too  strongly  wedded  to  favorite 
theories  and  preconceived  judgments  to  feel  the  full 
force  of  reason.  Great  statesmen  especially,  who 
have  been  in  advance  of  their  times,  and  devised  gov 
ernmental  polities  and  systems  whose  fruition  is  in 
the  future,  have  been  compelled  to  look  to  posterity 
for  appreciation,  and,  like  Bacon,  to  leave  "their 
names  and  memories  to  men's  charitable  speeches, 
and  to  foreign  nations  and  the  next  age."  Hence  we 
find  that  the  opinions  touching  the  public  men  of 
preceding  generations  are  often  greatly  modified 


OKATION.  67 

when  history  has  gathered  all  the  facts  and  data  — 
winnowed  the  true  from  the  false,  and  made  up  its 
record. 

There  have  been,  however,  exceptional  cases 
where  great  qualities  and  splendid  achievements 
have  been  so  conspicuous  as  to  receive  at  once  full 
popular  recognition.  Our  earlier  annals  are  distin 
guished  by  a  few  of  them.  Washington  and  Frank 
lin  and  Hamilton  were  all  appreciated  in  their  day 
and  generation.  We  of  to-day  can  add  to  the  illus 
trious  constellation  the  revered  name  of  Lincoln. 
His  individuality  was  so  marked,  his  moral  and  in 
tellectual  character  so  fully  recognized,  and  his 
motives  and  conduct  so  well  understood,  that  all 
knew  and  saw  him  as  he  was,  —  a  man  of  strong  nat 
ural  powers  of  mind,  of  fixed  principles,  of  great 
purity  of  character,  and  of  dauntless  moral  courage, 
who  hated  every  species  of  injustice  and  wrong.  ISTo 
time  is  wanted  to  understand  him.  No  time  is  re 
quired  to  obliterate  blots  which  impair  his  fame. 
There  is  little  in  his  public  conduct  to  be  excused  or 
forgotten.  His  place  in  the  Pantheon  of  illustrious 
benefactors  is  by  general  consent  assured. 

Such  is  the  judgment  of  to-day,  and  such  will 
be  the  judgment  of  posterity  and  future  ages.  Those 
of  the  North  who  were  politically  opposed  to  him,  and 
who,  under  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  the  hour, 


68  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

misunderstood  his  motives,  assailed  his  statesmanship, 
and  condemned  his  management  of  the  great  ques 
tions  he  was  called  to  solve,  now  largely  admit  he 
was  misjudged,  and  concede  to  him  the  credit  to 
which  he  is  entitled.  Even  our  brethren  of  the 
South,  notwithstanding  the  animosities  of  war,  are 
disposed  to  recognize  his  claim  to  the  respect,  admi 
ration,  and  gratitude  of  the  country. 

In  looking  through  his  character  we  find  most  con 
spicuous  his  pure  and  lofty  patriotism.  He  loved  his 
country  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  and  mind.  We 
can  believe  him  when  he  said,  standing  in  the  hall 
whence  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  issued, 
"I  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not  spring 
from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  that  instrument.  If 
the  country  cannot  be  saved  upon  its  principles,  I 
would  rather  be  assassinated  on  the  spot."  All  he 
said  and  did,  both  before  and  after  he  reached  the 
Presidency,  showed  that  he  kept  the  political  truths 
and  the  political  principles  embodied  in  the  sublime 
Declaration  constantly  before  him  as  his  inspiration 
and  guide.  He  was,  without  doubt,  ambitious;  but 
his  ambition  was  of  a  generous  and  lofty  character, 
ever  subordinated  to  the  single  desire  to  serve  his 
country  and  advance  its  best  interests.  He  did  not 
seek  to  raise  himself  to  power  by  subverting  the  laws 
and  trampling  on  the  rights  of  the  people,  like  so 


ORATION.  69 

many  recorded  by  history  in  her  most  mournful  pages ; 
nor  did  he  resemble  him  so  graphically  described  by 
Lucan  as  rejoicing  to  have  made  his  way  by  ruin,  — 

"  Gaudet  viamfecisse  ruina." 

He  looked  for  advancement  from  the  gratitude  of  the 
nation,  and  sought  the  fame  of  the  patriot  who  is 
solicitous  for  the  common  good,  and  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  State.  He  wished  not  to  destroy,  but 
to  preserve. 

HIS   INTELLECTUAL    QUALITIES. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  early  life  was  a  hard  struggle  against 
poverty.  He  had  none  of  the  advantages  of  early 
education,  and  few  opportunities  for  mental  culture 
until  long  after  he  reached  manhood,  for  nil  his 
time  and  energies  were  occupied  in  getting  a  liveli 
hood.  He  never  acquired  any  great  amount  of  learn 
ing.  In  respect  to  many  subjects  he  may  be  said  to 
have  been  very  ignorant;  but  such  was  the  force  of 
his  natural  capacity,  and  the  clear  and  logical  char 
acter  of  his  mind,  that  he  may  be  placed  in  the  ranks 
of  those  described  by  Tully,  w  who,  without  learning, 
by  the  almost  divine  instinct  of  their  own  mere  nature, 
have  been  of  their  own  accord,  as  it  were,  judicious 
and  wise  men;  for  nature,  without  learning,  often 


70  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

does  more  to  lead  men  to  credit  and  virtue,  than  learn 
ing  when  not  assisted  by  a  good  natural  capacity." 

He  read  but  few  books,  but  it  is  evident  that  he 
digested  well  what  he  read.  He  mastered  principles, 
and  applied  them  to  the  subject  under  consideration 
with  exquisite  accuracy.  What  he  knew  he  knew 
well  and  thoroughly.  It  could  not  be  said  that  he 
was  learned  in  his  profession,  but  he  acquired  the 
reputation  of  being  a  sound  and  safe  lawyer.  As  a 
nisi  prius  lawyer  he  was  very  eminent,  and  few  of 
those  who  practised  at  the  same  bar  with  him  had 
greater  power  or  more  success  with  juries,  whether 
he  attempted  to  convince  or  persuade. 

A  large  share  of  his  attention  was  given  to  the 
study  of  politics  and  questions  of  government.  His 
public  speeches  and  writings  showed  he  had  thought 
long  and  deeply  on  these  subjects,  and  comprehended 
them  so  well  that  he  was  equally  fitted  for  legislation 
and  administration.  He  was  the  Palinurus  of  the 
ship  of  state,  and  through  his  good  judgment,  discre 
tion,  and  firmness,  it  was  able  to  weather  the  dangers 
which  threatened  its  destruction.  Like  the  Trojan 
pilot,  also,  he  was  heedless  of  his  own  safety  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty,  and  in  the  care  of  the  trust 
committed  to  his  charge ;  and,  alas !  like  him,  too,  he 
was  destined  to  sacrifice  his  life  to  the  cause  of  his 
country. 


ORATION.  71 

HIS    MORAL    QUALITIES. 

His  moral  seems  to  have  been  more  fully  developed 
than  his  intellectual  nature.  All  the  accounts  repre 
sent  him  as  "  kindly  affectioned,"  tender-hearted,  full 
of  sweet  and  gentle  charities,  ever  ready  to  sympa 
thize  with  the  heavy-laden  and  afflicted.  His  early 
struggles  in  life  made  him  appreciate  the  sufferings 
of  the  poor,  and  he  felt  for  them. 

He  was  a  plain,  rough  man,  simple  in  his  habits 
and  ways,  of  incorruptible  integrity,  with  a  strong 
sense  of  justice  and  a  conscientious  regard  for  truth. 
It  has  been  said,  by  those  who  knew  him  well,  that  he 
appreciated  so  fully  the  beauty  of  the  right,  and  the 
deformity  of  the  wrong,  that,  able  and  eloquent  as 
he  was  as  an  advocate,  he  could  not  argue  a  case  to 
the  jury  with  his  usual  force  when  he  felt  he  was  on 
the  wrong  side.  He  could  not  be  strong  in  the  cham 
pionship  of  a  bad  cause.  He  could  not,  like  Belial, 

"  Make  the  worse  appear 
The  better  reason." 

"  On  the  right  side  of  a  case,"  said  a  competent 
critic,  "he  is  an  overwhelming  giant;  on  the  wrong 
side,  his  sense  of  justice  and  right  makes  him  weak." 

So  wTell  known  was  his  character  in  these  respects, 
that  the  people  in  his  section  of  the  country  all  knew 


72  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

him  and  spoke  of  him  as  "Honest  Old  Abe."  He 
never  corrupted  his  intellectual  or  moral  nature, 
either  by  doing  wrong  that  good  might  come  from 
it,  or  by  advocating  error  because  it  was  popular; 
and  his  statesmanship,  always  practical  and  straight 
forward,  showed  how  unswervingly  he  followed  what 
was  just  and  right. 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  mndictiveness  in  his 
nature.  He  was  ever  for  mercy.  His  tenderness  to 
those  who  had  endangered  the  safety  of  our  armies, 
by  desertion  and  other  military  crimes,  was  almost 
culpable.  And  it  is  owing  to  his  forgiving  nature 
that  there  was  no  prosecution  and  punishment  of 
those  who  had  made  war  upon  the  government. 
When  it  was  urged  that  the  Nemesis  demanded  Jef 
ferson  Davis  should  atone  for  the  terrible  sufferings 
he  had  brought  upon  the  country,  he  replied,  in  the 
sublimest  strain  of  Christian  charity,  "Judge  not, 
lest  ye  be  judged."  On  one  occasion  a  friend  was 
denouncing  his  enemies.  Lincoln  said  to  him,  "  Hold 
on ;  remember  what  St.  Paul  says :  '  And  now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  and  charity.  But  the  greatest  of  these 
is  charity.' '  His  love  of  justice  is  set  forth  with  pe 
culiar  and  pathetic  tenderness  in  his  reply  to  Doug 
las  when  they  were  stumping  Illinois  in  1858. 

"  Certainly,"  said  he,  ^  the  negro  is  not  our  equal 
in  color;  perhaps  not  in  other  respects;  still,  in  the 


ORATION.  73 

right  to  put  into  his  mouth  the  bread  that  his  own 
hands  have  earned,  he  is  the  equal  of  every  other 
man,  white  or  black.  All  I  ask  for  the  negro  is,  that 
if  you  do  not  like  him,  let  him  alone.  If  God  gave 
him  but  a  little,  that  little  let  him  enjoy."  Can  any 
thing  be  more  manly,  honest,  just,  and  charitable  ? 
If  Lincoln  read  but  few  books,  he  certainly  read  his 
Bible,  and  kept  in  remembrance  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount. 

This  gentleness  and  softness  of  heart  did  not  make 
him  weak.  He  was  strong  and  inflexible  when'  duty 
required  him  to  be  so.  One  of  his  intimate  friends 
remarked  of  him  that  he  "had  the  firmness,  without 
the  temper,  of  Jackson." 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  strange  vein  of  sad 
ness  underlying  Mr.  Lincoln's  character,  which  af 
fected  his  whole  life  and  conduct.  It  was  probably 
a  constitutional  dejection,  rather  than  a  grief  re 
sulting  from  disappointment  or  misfortune.  This 
idiosyncrasy  expressed  itself  in  his  homely  face,  for, 
despite  the  wit  and  humor  in  which  he  so  often  in 
dulged,  there  was  an  ever-present  pathos  which  no 
gayety  could  wholly  repress.  "  His  mirth,"  says  his 
biographer,  "was  exuberant;  it  sparkled  in  jest, 
story,  and  anecdote,  and  the  next  moment  those  pe 
culiar,  sad,  pathetic,  melancholy  eyes  showed  a  man 
familiar  with  sorrow  and  acquainted  with  grief." 


74  EMANCIPATION     GROUP. 

Mr.  Lamon,  the  law-partner  of  Lincoln,  says,  "  It 
would  be  difficult  to  recite  all  the  causes  of  his  mel 
ancholy  disposition;  that  it  was  partly  owing  to 
physical  causes  there  is  no  doubt;  but  his  mind  was 
filled  with  gloomy  forebodings  and  strong  apprehen 
sions  of  impending  evil,  mingled  with  extravagant 
visions  of  personal  grandeur  and  power.  His  imagi 
nation  painted  a  scene  just  beyond  the  veil  of  the  im 
mediate  future,  gilded  with  glory,  yet  tarnished  with 
blood.  It  was  his  destiny  —  splendid  but  dreadful, 
fascinating  but  terrible.  He  never  doubted  for  a  mo 
ment  but  he  was  formed  for  some  ?  great  or  miserable 
end.'  He  talked  about  it  frequently,  and  sometimes 
calmly.  He  said  the  impression  had  grown  upon 
him  ?  all  his  life.'  The  presentiment  never  deserted 
him;  it  was  as  clear,  as  perfect,  as  certain,  as  any 
image  conveyed  by  the  senses.  He  had  entertained 
it  so  long  that  it  was  as  much  a  part  of  his  nature  as 
the  consciousness  of  identity.  .  .  .  He  was  to 
fall,  and  fall  from  a  lofty  place,  and  in  the  perform 
ance  of  a  great  work.  The  star  under  which  he  was 
born  was  at  once  brilliant  and  malignant." 

The  historians  who  shall  hereafter  portray  the 
character  of  those  who  took  prominent  parts  in  our 
great  civil  war,  like  those  who  have  given  us  the 
characters  of  the  eminent  men  who  have  illustrated 
the  annals  of  other  nations,  will  paint,  more  or  less, 


OKATION.  75 

according  to  their  political  partialities  and  prejudices ; 
but  all,  of  whatever  party  or  sect,  who 

"  nothing  extenuate 
Nor  set  down  aught  in  malice," 

must  concede  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  good  and  a 
great  man;  that  his  benevolence  was  large,  his  mo 
tives  pure,  his  integrity  unsullied,  his  ambition  unsel 
fish,  his  patriotism  exalted,  and  that,  by  his  prudence, 
sagacity,  skill,  and  firmness,  he  saved  the  Union  and 
preserved  the  republic  which  Washington  founded. 

He  has  gone  to  join  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect.  He  has  entered  the  communion  of  the  no 
ble  army  of  martyrs  in  the  cause  of  country.  He  has 
been  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the  illustrious  of 
every  age  and  nation. 

'No  monument  of  granite  or  bronze  is  needed  to 
perpetuate  his  memory,  and  hold  his  place  in  the 
affections  of  his  countrymen.  His  fame  will  suffer 
nothing  from  the  corrosion  of  time,  but  increase  with 
the  advancing  years. 

Crescit,  occulto  velut  arbor  cevo 
Fama  Marcelli.     Micat  inter  omnes 
Julium  sidus,  velut  inter  ignes 
Luna  minor es. 


